Fatia Cerulean leaned back in his chair and considered the divination surface in front of him. The cobalt flames of energy wrapped around his bones, but stayed thin and meek as he considered the dire news flooding in from the western front.

Westrisser’s face appeared, a sneering example of a figure without empathy for the plight of another. Having to struggle alone for so long under siege from Nether forces had left some scars. “We have dispatched back our elite troops. The trained individuals you sent to experience my Dungeon are in route, completely transformed to be future pillars of the Aether world. Only a single one expired during the process. What additional help should we give to Homewell? Our domains will soon be under attack; our resources must be pointed toward our own defenses..”

“If more help doesn’t arrive soon, Homewell will fall,” The female Turtleline Kethope cut across him, the only one in the entire city that had any sense. The fact that the returning force from the Dungeon had any quality fighters at all was only due to her chosen dispatches. “The Nether attack arrived too suddenly, and-”

For a second, the image fluctuate and wavered as the Nether interfered with the divination. The faces of the other Aether forces all became grim; if the communication line had begun to fail, it meant their Lifeseal was under attack.

Fatia leaned forward. “Cerulean City will dispatch extra forces to assist. The Nether Leader still hasn’t moved, and the threat against our lands are lower. Besides, I think it is in our best interest to get a good look at this new Nether force.”

Besides, Fatia mused. I want to give the chance for my precious Fates to shine.

*****

Illia the dragonfly woman pirouetted in place, avoiding Randidly’s jab. The air around her rippled from the strange patterns she released. The fabric of reality slithered and trembled. Eventually, the distortions rebounded of of another and she vanished from view.

Randidly pressed his lips together and caught her attack when she shimmied out of the air next to him. The preparations for his follow-up attack had already begun, but he could only hiss and give a little bit of ground as this time her rapid movements were accompanied by a wave of needle-thin Nether projectiles.

Randidly’s Nether Core flared to life, whirling in defiance. Once again, he forcefully suppressed the Nether interference. He twisted around and slammed a heel kick against her chest, but the Nether bonds around her body hummed to life. Those last few inches in front of her body felt like he kicked through lead sand.

Of course, Randidly’s raw physicality powered through and smashed Illia across the sky, but it faded from being a finishing blow to just a wound.

His emerald eyes glittered as he considered the Nether around her body as the energy snapped back into place. Not only does she utilize a strange pattern… but the Toosah-esque bonds she possesses helps to diffuse any physical force I use against her. Fascinating, the way her Nether bonds are used defensively-

Randidly’s head snapped up as a massive freight train of Nether slammed into him from above and drove him toward the ground. Finally, the four Nether Kings became involved in the fight. Their Nether sizzled at spat against his skin, a churned mixture of energy from all the Nether Warriors of the offensive. All four had poured their energy and conjured a blunt instrument to wield.

But the only interesting aspect of the attack was its suddenness. The Stillborn Phoenix roared to life around his left hand. He dragged his event-horizon-obscured fingers through the attack and consumed huge swathes of the Nether used against him. It might be a heavy, powerful tool, but its lack of cohesion made it simple for the Stillborn Phoenix to eat its fill.

Jerking forward, Randidly avoided a sharp thrust from Illia and her stiletto. Her wings sparkled as she recoiled just as quickly as she attacked. Her lips quirked up. “...truly a monster. So this is the power of the old Nether ways. I’d always wanted to meet one such as you. The apex predators of our past.”

“You are halfway there yourself,” Randidly grunted as his own hand snaked forward, his fingernails ripping a gash in her shoulder that should have tore off a third of her torso. The Toosah rippled, the energy seeming unwilling to allow even the slightest damage to her. The four Nether Kings gathered up more of their energy to create another pillar of force, but Randidly sensed their efforts and gestured sharply.

Luckily for him, Illia’s seemingly irresistible effect quickly dispersed and allowed energy to settle.

Congratulations! Your Skill Yearnings of the Nether Heir (P) have grown to Level 1080!

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Their attempts fell to pieces before they had even gotten moving; compared to Randidly, these four didn’t have a deep understanding of patterns at all. With Randidly’s body at the center, a churning maelstrom of force arose. A whole kaleidoscope of energy began to spin around him.

Of course, Illia used that opportunity to flit quickly around Randidly, spreading her unspooling patterns which broke his connection to the energy. Even if she didn’t affect every aspect, cutting out huge veins of power was enough. The storm he attempted to build collapsed, leaving him growling. One of the Nether Kings rushed down, pulling out a copper ax and swinging it in a wide arc.

…I think you’ll soon realize that was a mistake. Randidly twisted his hand midair and then thrust forward his palm. If he couldn’t arrange the energy he gathered, he could simply grab it and force it where he wanted it to go. An inefficient usage, but it still caught the Nether King in the gut with a dense bar of Nether and left him so stunned he dropped his ax.

Illia fluttered past, her Nether a cutting wind that stripped his remaining energy bare. Before he could respond to her, two more Nether Kings rushed down to block his movements. Randidly growled and his eyes blazed. Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe.

The event horizon around his left hand grew. For a brief moment, Randidly pulled at his emotional sea and the entire amount of emotional energy he had absorbed from the Alpha Cosmos came with him. The force of that wave swept aside the Nether that attempted to restrict his images. He felt his Class sing a pure note of resonance with the effort. Some intangible aspect he struggled to catch came into perfect alignment. The Stillborn Phoenix opened its bloodshot eye.

Congratulations! Your Skill the Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe (T) has grown to Level 951!

The stillness became suffocating. Randidly could see the whites of Illia’s eyes as she hung midair, briefly fixed in place as the connection between two superpositions yawned open. The event horizon was not just an event horizon, but the connection to the monstrous other half of the Stillborn Phoenix.

The stirring beast released waves of gravitational force, condensing heavy planes of force across his body. The next Nether King that tried to physically restrict him would receive a crippling surprise.

Congratulations! Your Skill the Hypothetical Gaze that Consumes the Universe (T) has grown to Level 964!

Randidly growled, but he couldn’t prevent the four Nether Kings from working together and wrenching their way through his image. The Stillborn Phoenix perhaps could have overwhelmed them, but it flinched as one of the jagged fissures of its weakened form ground against itself. The image dispersed, leaving Randidly to clench Sulfur and punch another drill of Nether to shatter it to pieces.

He pivoted as Illia stepped out of the air behind him. He raised Sulfur and blocked her hand, but she only touched him lightly and smiled. “Authority: Cast from the Sky.”

Her Nether stabbed forward, ignoring the gravitational plates Randidly had created and sinking into his Nether Core. His Nether possessed more density, but she wasn’t trying to wound the core of his significance, just affect its rotation. Sulfur hummed to life, absorbing some of the effect. One of the spikes sticking out from his left arm began to glow

Congratulations! Your Skill Ghosthound’s Acute Nether Nose (M) has grown to Level 1074!

At the last second, Randidly noticed what Illia had said aloud. His eyes widened. But those needles forced their way past his defenses. Small, earlier holes he believed to have ironed out flared open and allowed her Authority to tighten around him.

The world blurred; His legs shook, his bare feet sinking into the muddy ground. A dead Nether Warrior looked sightlessly up at him, a broken sort poking out of his chest. Beneath the Nether Warrior were two Lizakkh warriors, equally dead.

Blinking, Randidly looked up. Illia drifted above him, a small smile on her face. Gleaming pearls of light fell from her wings as she drifted in a lazy circle, looking like a life-sized dancer from a music box. Further above her, the four Nether Kings rapidly began condensing a new, more focused drill of Nether.

Randidly flexed his legs and pressed the ground to jump. The ground cracked beneath him, but not even for a second did he leave the ground. His countenance darkened. He could feel a strange pattern in his own Nether, wrapping around him like a spider web and pressing him against the ground. Even as he squeezed his Nether to try and rid his core of Illia’s influence, the offending portions swam deeper into his Nether, hiding from him.

“I suppose we will find out exactly how tough you are, Nether King Hungry Eye.” One of the Nether Kings crowed. They gestured and the empowered drill of Nether shot toward his body. Illia continued her dance.

Randidly raised a hand but felt a thin membrane above him, preventing even his energy from stretching into the sky. He could see and sense the patterns his opponents made, but while he was under the influence of her Authority, he couldn’t cross that divide.

Randidly narrowed his eyes and raised both hands toward the sky. He licked his lips, thoroughly enjoying the prospect of what was about to happen. “The First Authority: Seize.”

The Dread Homunculus grinned. New notes of resonance floated to the surface in Randidly’s body.

Congratulations! Your Skill Homunculi’s Monstrous Tenacity (P) has grown to Level 903!

He seized the entire sky above Homewell. The clouds shivered. The muscles of his arms bulged. Then he yanked all of it down.

If Illia’s Authority had torn, he wouldn’t have minded. But what actually happened ended up being much more satisfying.

His Primordial Nether Juju pulled a yelp out of Illia’s mouth as she crumpled against the ground, her wings slathered in mud. The Nether Kings didn’t even get a chance to make a sound, simply crashing through their own Nether drills and having their bodies impact the ground before they could even respond.

Randidly cracked his neck and then began to walk forward. “If you wanted to fight on the ground, you should have just said so.”